COVID-19 border closure forces Kiwi woman to cut short honeymoon and leave husband in India

A Kiwi woman’s dream honeymoon trip was cut short arbitrarily, and disappointingly when she had to leave behind her husband in India, amidst rapidly closing borders and global travel restrictions due to Covid-19. 

Sally Wilkins, a resident of Nelson, in South Island, was on her dream honeymoon trip in Colombo with her Indian husband Sheeraz Haider when the couple had to take a heartbreaking decision to head back to their respective countries of birth, as their visa situations in each other’s country did not allow them to remain together during the lockdown. 

“My husband and I were on our honeymoon when Covid-19 happened.  We went overseas to get married and had been on honeymoon for two weeks when we had to separate at the airport and return to our respective countries of origin,” Sally said. 

The couple had to make this heartbreaking decision within a matter of a few hours only as the global panic set in mid-March with multiple countries around the world deciding to close their borders to prevent the spread of the novel Coronavirus. 

 “Saying goodbye to my husband in an airport full of terrified travellers trying to get home was horrible, especially having no idea when we will be able to see each other again,” Sally said. 

Both being on tourist visas in Sri Lanka had to leave the country at the earliest, however, to which destination, was the toughest question for the couple to answer. 

Eventually, they had no other choice but to head back to their respective countries of origin. Sally was back in New Zealand just before our borders closed, while Sheeraz headed back to his hometown in India. 

The couple had first met each other in Melbourne, Australia, where Sheeraz was living and working on a work visa and planning to apply for his permanent residency, and Sally was living after finishing her studies and planning a new life in Oz when they both fell for each other and started living together in a partnership for around three years.  

When the couple decided to get married the next big question, after finalising their wedding destination, was to decide on where to settle and start their new life together. 

It was in pursuit of this question that when Sheeraz visited Sally’s parents and family in Nelson in 2019 that the couple eventually decided to stay put in New Zealand, after getting traditionally married in India and having an extended honeymoon trip of few months to South & South East Asia. 

“I love my husband.   He loves me.  Up until Covid-19, we were in each other’s company constantly as we have lived together for several years in Australia. However, now everything is on hold in our lives,” Sally said. 

 Sheeraz has already applied for the normal partnership visa application with Immigration New Zealand, based on the couple’s three-year partnership history in Australia. 

 The plan was that the couple would be spending time together travelling overseas while their partnership visa application gets approved, however, Covid-19 pandemic had disrupted and delayed their plans of starting to live together. 

 Immigration New Zealand is already experiencing a significant backlog of visa processing, with all offshore visa processing centres still being closed. 

 “During levels four and three we waited; we understood that first, we needed to be safe as a country before anything could happen.  In level two we were hopeful that things would start moving, however, we are now afraid our film and student industries will be prioritised over partner visas.  This is heart-breaking for us. I am scared that as INZ has a reduced workforce after closing overseas offices and observe social distancing then our visa will just go on the back burner and not be processed for an extremely long time,” Sally told the Indian Weekender. 

“This is a difficult time for everybody and being separated from my main support person is hard.  Compounding this is now seeing students and film crews being invited into New Zealand while families remain apart.  I understand that we need economic stimulus as a country now more than ever, but I had hoped this focus would run parallel with supporting families and couples to get back together,” Sally further sais exasperatingly 

“I do not know what else to say other than please have compassion upon our situation and the situation of others who are separated from their loved ones.  I know that INZ has a lot on their plate and that they are forced to prioritise one visa over another but please do not underestimate the ongoing strain and anguish of being separated from a partner,” Sally said making an appeal for compassion and kindness.